Edwin Lemert

Edwin M. Lemert, who lived from 1912 to 1996, was an American sociologist who taught at the University of California, Davis after earlier positions at Kent State and Western Michigan Universities. He made foundational contributions to labeling theory by distinguishing primary deviance, an initial rule-breaking act with little effect on a person's self-image, from secondary deviance, in which a person comes to organize their identity and further behavior around society's reaction to having been labeled deviant. He also studied the social and psychological dimensions of drug addiction.